Papers

Perfect absorption (PA) represents a fundamental limit of light-matter interaction and a means to maximize nanoscale energy conversion. While PA is now a well-established phenomenon, both the theoretical feasibility and a practical mechanism for achieving it under single-beam excitation within the strong coupling regime is unknown. Through rigorous solution of Maxwells equations for a compact photonic crystal (PhC) architecture incorporating a two-dimensional semiconductor, we present a general method based on degenerate critical coupling for single-port PA of exciton-polaritons. At the crossing of two polariton branches, we achieve near-unity absorption exceeding 99.8 % in a structure thinner than $100\,$nm. This effect is robust under realistic Gaussian beam excitation, and can be realized across different temperatures and excitonic materials by tailoring the PhC geometry. Our results establish a strategy for enabling efficient light-matter coupling, with direct implications for the development of metal-free, ultra-compact polaritonic logic devices, sensors, and energy-harvesting platforms.

Small-scale interactions such as minor mergers, flybys and harassment are considered common driving mechanisms that can both initiate and quench star-forming processes within post-starburst (PSB) galaxies. PSBs have been linked to disturbed morphologies and faint tidal features in numerous works. We aim to independently study these features in E+A galaxies found in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly Fourth Data Release (GAMA DR4). Using image stacking techniques, we derive the averaged radial surface brightness profiles of E+A image stacks alongside the Sérsic parameters that best fit these profiles. These E+A stacks consist of 57 images extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in g, r & i bands. The E+A stacks are shown to have brighter extended regions than similar non-PSB galaxies, which is indicative of faint tidal features that could be caused by small-scale interactions. Additionally, we make use of Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Survey imaging, which is deeper than SDSS, to further support our conclusions and find that the Legacy Survey images independently strengthen the evidence for excess light at extended radii relative to the comparison samples. We discuss these findings in the context of future surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) survey.

Current reconstruction techniques for air-shower radio emission generated by cosmic rays have shown great success, having been applied to several radio detectors over the last decade. Nevertheless, they are limited by their high computational cost, simplified approximations, and signal information used for reconstruction. As such, advanced analyses are required to not only be able to perform a holistic reconstruction of all parameters, but also to conduct near-field interferometry of the air shower. This can be achieved through Information Field Theory (IFT), an imaging reconstruction framework based on Bayesian inference that can extract all available information within the signal to infer distributions of field-like quantities. In this chapter, we highlight current novel approaches that use IFT for air shower reconstruction, and the potential of their applicability towards SKA-Low.

Machine learning is emerging as a valuable tool for convection-related applications such as post-processing numerical weather prediction output, improving understanding of convective storm climatology and potentially improving existing convective parameterization schemes. In a rapidly developing field, it is vital to assess the strengths and limitations of machine learning approaches across different applications. Here, a probabilistic model is developed using a convective cell dataset as ground truth and predictors primarily from ERA5. The model's ability to reproduce the convective cell climatology at different regions relative to cold fronts (i.e. post-frontal and pre-frontal) is assessed during the warm-season in Germany. The optimal number of features (predictors) is selected using a feature elimination strategy. Overall, the optimised model exhibits high skill in reproducing the spatial and temporal cell frequency at different regions relative to the front. While the highest cell frequency is correctly identified near the surface front, the model underestimates the actual cell count in this region. Feature importance analysis shows that the model depends most heavily on CAPE to make its predictions. Additionally, the time of day predictor is key for accurately capturing the diurnal cycle of convective cells on both sides of the cold front. The study highlights both the advantages and the limitations of data-driven models, offering valuable insights for future data-driven climate and weather prediction models.

Thermal insulation remains an important technological challenge across the vast number of applications, from living quarters to quantum technology. Here, we exploit the size-dependent modification of the phonon density of states arising from phonon confinement in nanoparticles to fabricate a simple phonon rectifier. The smaller of the two connected nanoparticles imposes stronger phonon confinement leading to rectifying phonon transport. This concept is extended to the macroscale by constructing two overlapping layers of differently sized nanoparticles, thereby realizing a macroscopic phonon diode. Following the localized heat deposition by laser light, the temperature profiles across a phonon-diode were measured by infrared imaging. Although the rectifying strength is moderate, the abundance of optimization possibilities makes this method promising for ultra-low volume thermal insulation at both the nano- and macroscale

In this work, we construct one-dimensional interacting lattice spinor theories with discretization in momentum space. We focus on strongly interacting Schwinger and Nambu–Jona-Lasinio models and perform ab-initio calculation of their single-particle and two-particle momentum distribution functions at finite temperature. We observe, at low temperature, high-momentum tail in single-particle and two particle distribution which reveals relative momentum in fermion-antifermion boundstates, as well as quasi-free spinor gases behavior at high temperature. The non-vanishing connected four-momentum function reveals the quantum coherence in momentum space under thermal equilibrium of the system and indicate the single particle correlation would remember more microscopic details within a thermal system. Overall, for a high-enough temperature at which the thermal kinetic energy comparable with the interaction, we observe that the two-particle correlation is subdominant compared to the single particle distributions, which indicates the applicability of kinetic theory.

The aim of this science case for SKA1-Mid is to elucidate the spatial and velocity structure of the Cold Neutral Medium (CNM) on scales below the Field length, thereby elucidating the physical processes that govern CNM structure formation and its role in the earliest stages of molecular cloud formation. This goal will be achieved through a unique observational combination of several-arcsecond angular resolution, high velocity resolution, and unprecedented surface-brightness sensitivity. These observations will reveal the characteristic size, morphology, velocity structure, and internal dynamics of CNM clumps, and will directly connect such structures to the earliest phases of the atomic to molecular transition. Full-polarization observations with SKA1-Mid will also enable emission-based Zeeman measurements of the CNM, allowing the magnetic field strength to be mapped and opening a new window on the role of magnetic fields in CNM formation and evolution. In particular, this will make it possible to determine whether magnetic fields primarily inhibit fragmentation by supporting the gas against compression, or instead guide anisotropic condensation and promote the development of small-scale CNM structure through thermal instability. In combination with interferometric spatial filtering and high spectral resolution, SKA1-Mid will selectively trace the CNM and robustly identify individual clumps in both position and velocity space. These capabilities will provide decisive tests of thermal instability and the two-phase turbulence model, and will establish a new observational foundation for understanding how molecular clouds emerge from the multi-phase atomic interstellar medium.

The convergence of the self-consistent field iterations in Kohn-Sham density functional theory can be significantly hindered by the presence of small eigenvalues in the dielectric matrix, which are often associated with electronic phase transitions in magnetic systems. In this work, we study this type of convergence issues and propose a new preconditioning scheme to mitigate them. Our preconditioning scheme is inspired by the Stoner model and based on a non-interacting susceptibility that neglects orbital variations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on a range of ferromagnetic systems, showing that it can significantly reduce the number of iterations required to achieve convergence in the vicinity of magnetic phase transitions.

We present CHESS (CHEbyshev pSeudo Spectrum), a Wolfram Language package for high-precision one-dimensional transport of {\epsilon}-factorized differential equations for Feynman master integrals. The solver works with the matrix obtained by pulling a differential one-form to a chosen path. This matrix may be supplied directly, or assembled from constant matrices and precomputed scalar pullbacks of the one-forms. The program combines Chebyshev-Lobatto spectral collocation, sparse matrix assembly, sequential propagation in the {\epsilon}-expansion, and residue-based regularization of spurious regular singular endpoints. Benchmarks for large multi-scale integral families show rapid node convergence and agreement with independent reference data where such data are available. In the fixed local-series comparison used here, the Chebyshev transports also give shorter wall times; the reported process-tree memory usage is comparable for the smaller parallel runs and lower for the largest benchmark system in that comparison.

Fermions generate spacetime torsion, which can be eliminated, leaving behind an effective four-fermion interaction. This term will contribute an effective mass for neutrinos propagating through matter, similar to the Wolfenstein term coming from electroweak interactions. When the neutrinos are Majorana fermions and become massive via the Type I SeeSaw mechanism, there can be additional effects due to sterile neutrinos interacting with all fermions via the torsion-induced term, as well as due to the presence of new mixing parameters. We consider different scenarios with one sterile and one or two active neutrinos – when the torsional interaction is diagonal in the mass basis and when it is not – and analytically find these modifications. The T violation in the 2+1 scenario is discussed for some specific mixing between the torsion fields and the mass fields.

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium $\beta$ limits in the Chinese First QuasiAxisymmetric Stellarator (CFQS) are investigated using the NTEC code, for both the standard and the magnetic island configurations. The equilibrium $\beta$ limit is identified upon the onset of the rapid destruction of nested flux surfaces by evaluating several numerical metrics, including the fractal dimension, weighted Birkhoff average, and effective volume of parallel diffusion. In the standard configuration, the net-current-free and the bootstrap-current-carrying equilibria can sustain well-ordered magnetic surfaces up to $\langle\beta\rangle\approx1.5\%$. The proliferation of stochastic field lines starts after the critical overlap between the internal major islands and the high-order island chains. Two types of divertor island configurations are studied based on net-current-free equilibria. It is found that the edge islands may transition into open field lines at low $\langle\beta\rangle$ values and lead to a drastic shrinkage of the last closed flux surface. Meanwhile, the threshold $\langle\beta\rangle$ value of the degradation of inner flux surfaces is similar to the standard configuration.

We study Floquet topological phases in two-dimensional $d_{xy}$-wave altermagnets driven by off-resonant circularly polarized light and subject to an out-of-plane magnetization induced via extrinsic exchange coupling from a proximate ferromagnet. Using a lattice Floquet formulation, we show that the system is governed by a driving parameter $\beta$ that controls the emergence of distinct gap-closing points and associated topological phases. For $|\beta|>1$, topology is dominated by anisotropic Dirac points at high symmetry points, leading to Chern phases with $|\mathcal{C}|=2$. For $|\beta|<1$, light-induced off-symmetry $G$ points appear in four families in the Brillouine zone, enabling higher Chern phases up to $|\mathcal{C}|=4$. Low-energy analysis reveals that high symmetry points host anisotropic massive Dirac fermions, while $G$ points realize generalized two-dimensional anisotropic Dirac points with fully momentum-dependent pseudospin structure, leading to distinct Berry curvature distributions. In the metallic regime, the anomalous Hall conductivity provides an experimental signature of these Floquet topological phases, exhibiting sharp features associated with Berry curvature accumulation near local gap-closing regions.

Triangulations, i.e., well-structured decompositions of geometric objects into triangle-like pieces, are central objects in many domains of mathematics and physics. In particular, fine, regular, and star triangulations (FRSTs) of 4D reflexive polytopes give rise to smooth Calabi-Yau threefolds, which are of significant interest in string theory. However, the high dimensionality and combinatorial complexity of triangulations make them particularly challenging to model with classical numerical methods or machine learning. In this work, we show that transformers, equipped with an appropriate encoding scheme, can be effectively trained to representatively generate new FRSTs across a range of polytope sizes. Moreover, these models can also self-improve through retraining on their own output. This opens the door to both concrete applications to the classification of Calabi-Yau manifolds and further research in physics, combinatorics and algebraic geometry.

The gelation transition, a process that transforms a flowable liquid into an elastic solid, occurs in a variety of systems, ranging from colloidal to polymeric. During the gelation transition, a system passes through a critical gel state characterized by scale-free power-law viscoelasticity. Interestingly, the fractional calculus provides a natural mathematical language for such power-law viscoelasticity. In this work, we develop physically constrained fractional viscoelastic models, as well as those based on the three-parameter Mittag-Leffler-Prabhakar function, for both the pre-gel and post-gel regimes, ensuring consistency with the conventional scaling relations in each regime. While the fractional pre-gel model is observed to be valid only for a restricted subset of parameter values, the Prabhakar function-based model for the relaxation modulus, which translates into a Havriliak-Negami function-based complex modulus, rigorously removes this limitation. We enforce continuity of the dynamic moduli and their derivatives across the critical gel point, which universally imposes a symmetry in the relaxation dynamics on either side of the critical gel state. Such enforcement further validates the hyperscaling relation connecting the critical exponents, making it a theoretical necessity rather than an empirical coincidence. We validate the proposed models against time- and frequency-domain experimental data. A model-agnostic, frequency-independent rheological fingerprint of the critical gel state, uniquely determined by two critical exponents, is also identified.

We develop a thermodynamically consistent phase-field model for soluble surfactants in two-phase flows, incorporating both interfacial and solid surface adsorption. The model is derived via variational principles consistent with the second law of thermodynamics, resulting in modified free energies and boundary conditions that capture surfactant transport, adsorption, and wetting dynamics. A key contribution of this work is the inclusion of surfactant adsorption on solid walls, which leads to qualitative agreement with experimental observations: unlike prior numerical studies that predicted hydrophilic surfaces becoming more hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces more hydrophobic, our model shows a shift toward increased hydrophilicity across all contact angles-consistent with experimental trends. Our results establish that solid adsorption provides the missing mechanism required for predictive modelling of surfactant-laden contact line dynamics.

We present a comprehensive characterisation of dynamic heterogeneity in sodium silicate melts using molecular dynamics simulation with machine-learning potentials. By studying sodium disilicate, tetrasilicate, and hexasilicate melts across a range of temperatures, mean squared displacement and a time-correlation function computed up to the nanosecond timescale provide a detailed account of how spatial mobility disparities emerge in a realistic multicomponent oxide glass. Within these timescales, the self-part of the van Hove function for sodium displays a bimodality, demonstrating that alkali transport is mediated by discrete displacement events consistent with a hopping mechanism. This distinct hopping allows sodium ions to decouple from the sluggish relaxation of the silicate matrix. Furthermore, evaluation of the non-Gaussian parameter reveals that, although all constituent species exhibit dynamic heterogeneity, the non-Gaussian behaviour is most pronounced for oxygen atoms. This trend reflects the intermittency of structural rearrangements, where framework atoms undergo rare and stochastic events compared to the frequent displacements of mobile ions. Our findings elucidate the microscopic mechanism of ion transport and its connection to dynamic heterogeneity in silicate melts, offering a new avenue to study fundamental glassy physics in realistic vitreous materials.

Structural reconstruction in low-dimensional quantum materials can strongly modify electronic symmetry and magnetic stability through orbital hybridization. Here, we investigate the interplay between lattice reconstruction, electronic structure, and magnetic instability in the layered van der Waals compound TaCo$_2$Te$_2$ using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS), non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM), angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and density functional theory (DFT). While nc-AFM resolves a distorted hexagonal Te surface lattice, STM/STS reveal a pronounced square-like electronic symmetry that does not directly follow the atomic structure. ARPES further shows a strongly anisotropic Fermi surface and reconstructed low-energy states. Spatially resolved spectroscopy and orbital-projected DFT demonstrate that the bias-dependent STM contrast does not arise from a simple reversal between occupied and unoccupied states, but from the energy-integrated local density of states dominated by electronic states exhibiting opposite spatial contrast at selected energies. DFT calculations further show that reconstruction suppresses the magnetic instability present in the undistorted structure, stabilizing a nonmagnetic ground state through enhanced orbital hybridization. These results establish TaCo$_2$Te$_2$ as a model system in which lattice reconstruction reorganizes electronic symmetry and suppresses magnetism, highlighting structural reconstruction as a route for controlling correlated and magnetic phases in low-dimensional quantum materials.

The Square Kilometre Array will be a revolutionary instrument for the study of gas in the distant Universe. At frequencies below ~50 GHz, observations of redshifted emission from low-J transitions of CO, HCN, HCO+, and HNC, etc. provide insight into the kinematics and mass budget of the cold, dense star-forming gas in galaxies. Over the past decade, sensitive imaging using ALMA has detected and resolved the redshifted high-J molecular CO line emission and far-infrared fine structure lines in samples of galaxies over a wide redshift range, shedding light on active star-formation processes at the early epoch of galaxy evolution. In recent years, increasing numbers of young galaxies at high redshift are discovered by JWST, which significantly improved our knowledge of different galaxy populations across cosmic time. In this updated chapter of the SKA science book, we would like to highlight the importance of studies of the low-J molecular lines in high-z galaxies using SKA toward high frequencies, discussing the request of frequency coverage beyond 15 GHz and emphasizing its crucial role in exploring the cold molecular gas content in the young galaxy populations in the early universe and investigating the regions of active-star formation using molecular CO and various dense gas tracers.

We show that there is an explicit resurgent duality between weak and strong coupling expansions when one of the expansions has zero radius of convergence and the other has infinite radius of convergence. This complements the situation where the convergent expansion has finite radius of convergence, or when both expansions have zero radius of convergence. We illustrate this phenomenon for the Airy and Pearcey catastrophe integrals, and we apply it to two physical examples: the weak and strong coupling expansions of Dyson-Schwinger equations in zero-dimensional scalar $\phi^4$ theories, and the short and long time expansions of the heat kernel trace for the fluctuation operator of the kink-antikink crystal saddle configuration in the Gross-Neveu model.

A significant fraction of large-telescope observing time is devoted to single-object spectroscopy and photometry. We compare the cost-effectiveness of different telescope architectures, including single seeing- and diffraction-limited telescopes and arrays of seeing-limited or diffraction-limited telescopes. We use the survey speed per unit cost as the performance metric. For single telescopes with equal collecting area, diffraction-limited operation becomes more cost-effective once seeing-limited observations enter the background-dominated regime, typically at visible magnitudes of $\sim20$. For unresolved single-object observations, arrays of seeing-limited telescopes are generally more cost-effective than a single seeing-limited telescope. When matched in survey speed, a single diffraction-limited telescope outperforms an array of small seeing-limited telescopes only for targets fainter than $\sim20$–$24\,$mag, while a single large diffraction-limited telescope becomes more cost-effective than an array of smaller diffraction-limited telescopes only for targets fainter than $\sim26$–$28\,$mag. We conclude with a discussion on aspects related to the minimum telescope size and maintenance of telescope arrays. These conclusions are sensitive to the specific assumptions and system parameters adopted for each architecture and should therefore be interpreted with appropriate caution. Our results motivate the development of telescope arrays such as MAST and LFAST and may inform the design of future optical facilities.

We investigate Floquet-engineered topological phases in two-dimensional $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave altermagnets irradiated by circularly polarized light in the off-resonant regime. These materials exhibit large momentum-dependent spin-splitting governed by distinctive magnetic symmetries. Using a lattice model combined with Floquet theory, we demonstrate that irradiation induces the light-tunable quantum anomalous Hall phases with the Chern numbers up to $\pm 3$. The resultant phase diagram is verified by calculating the anomalous Hall conductivity and also the edge modes inside the band gap of a nanoribbon version of the altermagnet. Our findings establish d-wave altermagnets as promising platforms for realizing nonequilibrium topological states of matter. The low-energy continuum limit of the lattice-based Floquet Hamiltonian results in a linear and higher-order-in-momentum spin-orbit couplings, and also a Zeeman-like magnetization, all arising from light-induced virtual photon processes. The resulting higher-order spin-orbit coupling generates the additional gapless Dirac points which, together with the high-symmetry gap-closings, yield enhanced Berry curvature and high Chern numbers. The light irradiation effectively breaks the static $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave magnetic symmetry mixing in an isotropic photo-induced $s$-wave correction.

Study of accretion onto wormholes is rather rare compared to that onto black holes. In this paper, we consider accretion flow of cosmological dark energy modeled by barotropic fluid onto the celebrated Ellis–Bronnikov wormhole (EBWH) built by Einstein minimally coupled scalar field $\phi$, violating the null energy condition. The accreting fluid is assumed to be phantom, quintessence, dust and stiff matter. We begin by first pointing out a mathematical novelty showing how the EBWH can lead to the Schwarzschild black hole under a complex Wick rotation. Then, we analyze the profiles of fluid radial velocity, density and the rate of mass variation of the EBWH due to accretion and compare the profiles with those of the Schwarzschild black hole. We also analyze accretion to the massless EBWH that has zero ADM mass but has what we call nonzero Wheelerian mass (“mass without mass”), composed of the non-trivial scalar field, that shows gravitational effects. Our conclusion is that the mass of SBH due to phantom and non-phantom accretion increases consistently with known results, while, in contrast, the mass of EBWH decreases. Accretion to massless EBWH (i.e., to nonzero Wheelerian mass) shares the same patterns as those of the massive EBWH; hence there is no way to distinguish massive and massless cases by means of accretion flow. The contrasting mass variations due to phantom accretion could be a reflection of the distinct topology of the central objects.

We compute the leading-order $1/N$ corrections to the central charges $C_J$ and $C_T$ in the conformal QED$_d$-Gross-Neveu-Yukawa (GNY) model and the scalar QED$_d$ in $d$ dimensions. The scaling dimensions of the lowest adjoint bilinear scalars are obtained to order $O(1/N)$ for general $d$. In $d=3$, the $U(1)$ Abelian gauge theory possesses a topological $U(1)$ global symmetry, and we evaluate the central charge $C_J^{\text{top}}$ of the topological symmetry current to subleading order in the $1/N$ expansion. Our interest in these theories is primarily motivated by their potential connection to the $SO(5)$ symmetric deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP). We compare the large $N$ results for the central charges $C_J$ and $C_T$ with the conformal data of the $SO(5)$ DQCP obtained from fuzzy sphere and conformal bootstrap. The large $N$ predictions of the QED$_3$-GNY model are found to be in reasonable agreement with the nonperturbative estimates for the $SO(5)$ DQCP.

We theoretically examine the photon-assisted tunneling (PAT) in a double quantum dot (DQD) in parallel when one of the quantum dots (QDs) is irradiated by an AC field. First, we formulate the PAT in a single QD by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation using the scattering theory. The QD has an oscillating energy level, $\varepsilon(t)=\varepsilon_0+eV_{\mathrm{AC}}\cos\omega t$, and is connected to two leads by the tunnel coupling $\Gamma$. We show that the resonant tunneling takes place through energy levels of the polariton, $\varepsilon_0+N\hbar\omega$ ($N=0,\pm 1, \pm 2, \cdots$), when $\Gamma \ll \hbar\omega$ (PAT) and through the energy level $\varepsilon(t)$ when $\Gamma \gg \hbar\omega$ (adiabatic transport). Then, the scattering theory is applied to the PAT in the DQD in the presence of magnetic flux penetrating between the QDs. We observe the Aharonov–Bohm effect not only in the main peak ($N=0$) but also in subpeaks ($N \ne 0$), indicating coherent transport through the polariton states. Our theory is also applicable to the DQD in the three-terminal geometry. We demonstrate the phase measurement through the irradiated QD and show that the measured phase shift changes continuously from 0 to $\pi$ around both the main peak and subpeaks.

Dipolar quantum mixtures provide a route to many-body phases in which long-range anisotropic interactions couple with density, composition and spatial order. Here we realize a new quantum-degenerate dipolar mixture of $^{162}$Dy and $^{164}$Dy in a single-species-like apparatus. The mixture combines nearly matched single-particle Hamiltonians, tunable interactions and composition parameters, and isotope-resolved characterization. Tuning the interaction balance and relative composition reorganizes the coupled condensates from a miscible state into core–shell-like, side-by-side, and exchanged core–shell-like immiscible configurations. These results establish dysprosium isotope mixtures as a compact and versatile platform for multicomponent dipolar quantum matter, ranging from impurity physics to binary supersolidity.

The $^{229}$Th nucleus possesses an isomeric state at an excitation energy of $\sim 8$ eV, the lowest known nuclear transition energy, placing its frequency in the vacuum-ultraviolet range and making it directly accessible to laser spectroscopy. In this review, we discuss the $^{229}$Th isomer from three connected perspectives: experimental spectroscopy and clock development, nuclear structure theory, and applications to precision tests of fundamental physics. We first trace the experimental progress from indirect $\gamma$-ray energy inference to resonant laser excitation, absolute frequency comparison with an atomic clock, and feedback-loop operation of a solid-state nuclear clock, and discuss trapped-ion, highly charged ion, and solid-state platforms together with mechanisms for nuclear-state manipulation and readout. We then review, from the nuclear-structure perspective, how the near-degeneracy of the $5/2^+[633]$ and $3/2^+[631]$ neutron Nilsson configurations, together with Coriolis mixing and octupole correlations, underlies the anomalously low transition energy and its electromagnetic properties. Comparisons among different phenomenological and microscopic models show that octupole correlations are a common structural ingredient, while magnetic moments and transition strengths remain sensitive tests of the calculated wave functions. Finally, we discuss how the near-cancellation of MeV-scale nuclear contributions into an eV-scale transition can enhance sensitivity to variations of fundamental constants, signatures of ultralight dark matter, CP-violating interactions, Lorentz-invariance violation, and possible nuclear quantum technologies.

In this work, we investigate light-quark energy loss in a strongly coupled plasma described by a spinning black-brane background obtained from the large-black-hole limit of the Myers-Perry geometry. The parameter $a$ characterizes the boost/rotation parameter of the dual fluid in this holographic setup and is related to the angular velocity in the corresponding limit. We employ two complementary probes, the falling-string and shooting-string descriptions, to compute the stopping distance and the instantaneous energy loss of a light quark moving either transverse or parallel to the local tangential-flow direction. The results show that light quarks quench more readily in a hot environment. For parallel propagation, a counter-propagating configuration enhances energy loss, whereas a co-propagating configuration suppresses it. For transverse propagation, increasing the magnitude of the rotational motion promotes energy loss. In addition, the instantaneous energy loss increases along the trajectory of the endpoint. These results describe classical probe dynamics in the local planar limit and do not include intrinsic-spin effects.

We present a semi-analytical series solution for electron and positron propagation in a spherical two-zone diffusion model. The solution treats slow diffusion inside a near-source region and standard interstellar diffusion outside it, while synchrotron and Klein–Nishina inverse-Compton cooling are included through energy characteristics. The formulation avoids the oscillatory cancellations of direct two-zone integral evaluations and preserves the sharp radiative cooling boundary seen in finite-volume checks. We apply the kernel to pulsar contributions to the local cosmic-ray lepton flux. Nearby pulsars remain natural candidates near the TeV cutoff, but at tens to hundreds of GeV the larger source volume allows more distant pulsars to contribute collectively: for a disk half-thickness of $0.2\,{\rm kpc}$, sources beyond $1\,{\rm kpc}$ can still provide $37$–$47\%$ of the $10$–$100\,{\rm GeV}$ flux. Comparing with AMS-02 positron data and all-electron anisotropy limits, and imposing an inner $100\,{\rm pc}$ cavity motivated by the Local Bubble and pulsar proper motions, we find that Geminga-scale slow-diffusion halos remain compatible with current data. The fitted pulsar component is dominated by sources beyond $0.3\,{\rm kpc}$, but flux and anisotropy data alone do not uniquely determine the halo size; external information such as TeV halo morphology is still required.

We present a unified theoretical study of semileptonic decays of ground state octet hyperons using the relativistic three-quark model (R3QM). A key innovation of our approach is that all baryon wave functions are determined by fitting the baryon mass spectrum with a semirelativistic potential model, leading to predictions for weak transition amplitudes without free parameters. Adopting these wave functions, we calculate the decay widths, branching fractions, lepton flavor universality ratios, as well as the angular correlation and spin asymmetry parameters for the octet channels. The calculated values agree with the available experimental data and give predictions for channels with limited experimental information. We further compute the complete set of octet transition form factors without any additional free parameters, so that the weak current can be examined beyond the rate observables. In the well measured $\Lambda \to p \ell^-\bar{\nu}_\ell$ channel, the calculated leading vector and axial-vector form factors, $f_1(0)$ and $g_1(0)$, agree well with recent lattice QCD results, and the $g_1/f_1$ ratio is consistent with recent BESIII measurements. Beyond the leading vector and axial-vector terms, the complete form factor set separates the weak magnetism, second class, and the pole contribution associated with the partially conserved axial current (PCAC) relation. The weak magnetism term $f_2$ shows the clearest channel dependence compared with lattice QCD results, and its smaller values in some channels may point to transverse current strength not fully saturated by pure $qqq$ valence components. This work provides a framework for connecting octet hyperon weak form factors to the spin–flavor and spatial structure of baryons at the quark level, and gives testable weak current observables for future hyperon semileptonic decay measurements.

Many phenomenological calculations involving massless or unstable particles suffer from divergences as mediating particles go on-shell. One way to deal with these divergences is via the Kinoshita-Lee-Nauenberg (KLN) theorem, which guarantees that by summing over all physically-degenerate processes, the divergences cancel and inclusive observables remain finite. However, actually implementing this theorem in practice requires handling disconnected diagrams, ill-defined distributional objects, threshold behavior and subtle regulator dependence. In this work, we formulate practical prescriptions for dealing with some of these issues by studying the KLN cancellation in an illustrative model exhibiting a t-channel divergence. We demonstrate intricate cancellations across several regularization schemes, connect our results to the complex-analytic structure of the underlying amplitudes, and take steps towards constructing a finite, fixed-order, inclusive t-channel collider observable. This work highlights both the utility of the KLN theorem, and also the technical subtleties and open questions involved with applying it in practice.